Since Emmanuel Macron announced the creation of a ‘European Political Community’ (EPC) in Strasbourg on 9 May, the question has arisen as to what role this will leave for the Council of Europe (COE), the largest and oldest pan-European organisation, which was founded in the same city over 70 years ago.
With its 44 participating states, the EPC sees itself as a “greater Europe”, just as the COE was seen as the “gateway” to the European Union when many Central and Eastern...